Los Angeles Gasoline Advances on Exxon Breakdown, Supply Drop

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Spot gasoline in Los Angeles gained
against futures for the first time in three days after Exxon
Mobil Corp.’s Torrance refinery reported a breakdown and the
state said supplies of the fuel dropped last week.

California-blend gasoline stockpiles slipped a second week,
falling by 0.9 percent to 6.93 million barrels in the week ended
Jan. 25, the state Energy Commission said late yesterday.
Production of the fuel tumbled 154,000 barrels to 5.65 million.

Exxon’s 150,000-barrel-a-day Torrance refinery near Los
Angeles had a breakdown in a unit at about 5 p.m. yesterday,
Gesuina Paras, a spokeswoman at the plant, said by e-mail. The
upset isn’t expected to affect the company’s ability to meet
customer commitments, she said.

California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, in Los Angeles
advanced 4.38 cents to 31.38 cents a gallon above gasoline
futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:38 p.m.
East Coast time, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the
fuel’s highest premium since Oct. 12. Prompt-delivery in Los
Angeles rose 4.57 cents to $3.3489 a gallon.

Carbob in San Francisco climbed 0.5 cent to a premium of
7.5 cents a gallon against futures. Prompt-delivery of the fuel
rose 0.69 cents to $3.1101 a gallon.

San Francisco Carbob weakened 3.88 cents to a discount of
23.88 cents a gallon against the fuel in Los Angeles, the
biggest gap in almost a week.

California-blend, or CARB, diesel in Los Angeles gained 0.5
cent to a 9-cent-a-gallon premium to Nymex heating oil futures.
The same fuel in San Francisco climbed 0.5 cent to a premium of
12.5 cents a gallon against futures.